Introduction

The work presented in this document contains analysis of commute mode, with a focus on transit ridership, in relation to auto ownership and geography. The analysis includes 2021 data and utilizes PSRC’s R package, psrc.travelsurvey.

  • Has commuting by transit changed with COVID-19? (2017 and 2019 vs. 2021)
    • Who uses transit? Have there been shifts over time?
  • How does vehicle ownership influence transit commuting use over time?

Filtering out children and those who do not commute

General Commuting

Using ‘commute_mode’ defined as: ‘Usual way of commuting to current location/office’
survey logic: if workplace = fixed/varied/telework some days

Workplace options:

  • Only one work location outside of home
  • Work at home ONLY (telework, self-employed)
  • Telework some days and travel to a work location some days
  • Work location regularly varies (different offices/jobsites)
  • Drive/travel for work (driver, sales)

##                                                                                  
##                                                                                   2017
##   Airplane or helicopter                                                             8
##   Bicycle or e-bike                                                                156
##   Bus (public transit)                                                             842
##   Carpool ONLY with other household members                                        187
##   Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members)   70
##   Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak)                                                   13
##   Drive alone                                                                     1728
##   Ferry or water taxi                                                                6
##   Motorcycle/moped                                                                   0
##   Motorcycle/moped/scooter                                                          12
##   Other (e.g. skateboard)                                                            2
##   Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service)             10
##   Paratransit                                                                        1
##   Private bus or shuttle                                                            22
##   Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor)                                     0
##   Streetcar                                                                          3
##   Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab)                                                            1
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail)                                            95
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar)                                  0
##   Vanpool                                                                           28
##   Walk, jog, or wheelchair                                                         286
##                                                                                  
##                                                                                   2017_2019
##   Airplane or helicopter                                                                 14
##   Bicycle or e-bike                                                                     322
##   Bus (public transit)                                                                 1600
##   Carpool ONLY with other household members                                             337
##   Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members)       132
##   Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak)                                                        48
##   Drive alone                                                                          3169
##   Ferry or water taxi                                                                    32
##   Motorcycle/moped                                                                       12
##   Motorcycle/moped/scooter                                                               12
##   Other (e.g. skateboard)                                                                 2
##   Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service)                  34
##   Paratransit                                                                             1
##   Private bus or shuttle                                                                 54
##   Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor)                                          3
##   Streetcar                                                                               8
##   Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab)                                                                 1
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail)                                                224
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar)                                       0
##   Vanpool                                                                                54
##   Walk, jog, or wheelchair                                                              647
##                                                                                  
##                                                                                   2019
##   Airplane or helicopter                                                             6
##   Bicycle or e-bike                                                                166
##   Bus (public transit)                                                             758
##   Carpool ONLY with other household members                                        150
##   Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members)   62
##   Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak)                                                   35
##   Drive alone                                                                     1441
##   Ferry or water taxi                                                               26
##   Motorcycle/moped                                                                  12
##   Motorcycle/moped/scooter                                                           0
##   Other (e.g. skateboard)                                                            0
##   Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service)             24
##   Paratransit                                                                        0
##   Private bus or shuttle                                                            32
##   Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor)                                     3
##   Streetcar                                                                          5
##   Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab)                                                            0
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail)                                           129
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar)                                  0
##   Vanpool                                                                           26
##   Walk, jog, or wheelchair                                                         361
##                                                                                  
##                                                                                   2021
##   Airplane or helicopter                                                             1
##   Bicycle or e-bike                                                                 29
##   Bus (public transit)                                                             118
##   Carpool ONLY with other household members                                         86
##   Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members)   36
##   Commuter rail (Sounder, Amtrak)                                                    4
##   Drive alone                                                                     1128
##   Ferry or water taxi                                                                8
##   Motorcycle/moped                                                                   0
##   Motorcycle/moped/scooter                                                           7
##   Other (e.g. skateboard)                                                            0
##   Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service)              4
##   Paratransit                                                                        2
##   Private bus or shuttle                                                             1
##   Scooter or e-scooter (e.g., Lime, Bird, Razor)                                     5
##   Streetcar                                                                          0
##   Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab)                                                            0
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail)                                             0
##   Urban rail (Link light rail, monorail, streetcar)                                 12
##   Vanpool                                                                            2
##   Walk, jog, or wheelchair                                                          43



When the commute modes are simplified:

##                                  
##                                   2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
##   1-Active transit/micro mobility  454       996  542   84
##   2-Public Transit                 960      1913  953  144
##   3-Drive alone                   1728      3169 1441 1128
##   4-HOV modes                      296       558  262  128
##   5-Other modes                     32        70   38    2

HOV-modes are categorized based on the number of individuals in the vehicle:

  • “Carpool ONLY with other household members”
  • “Carpool with other people not in household (may also include household members)”
  • “Other hired service (Uber, Lyft, or other smartphone-app car service)”
  • “Taxi (e.g., Yellow Cab)”
  • “Vanpool”

Race/ethnicity

Race - all categories



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Race - POC/Non-POC



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Race - Asian POC/Non-Asian POC/White



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Income



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Education



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Regional Growth Center

This analysis is based on the final_home_is_rgc variable.



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Gender



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



No-vehicle households

The following research will be focused on those who reported commuting to work and who don’t own any hosehold vehicles.

survey logic: vehicle_count==“0 (no vehicles)”



Race/ethnicity

Race - all categories



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Race - POC/Non-POC



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Race - Asian POC/Non-Asian POC/White



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Income



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Education



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Regional Growth Center



Focusing on Active/Public Transit

To look at numbers more closely



Vehicle Ownership

There are different ways to quantify vehicle ownership

  1. hhsize/vehicle_count: Household size
  2. numadults/vehicle_count: Number of adults (18+)
  3. numworkers/vehicle_count: Number of workers (number of household members with 1+ jobs)

Because we’re interested in commute modes, we will be focusing on the number of workers within a household.

Number of vehicles per worker

The variables used to calculate this variable are:

  1. Number of household vehicles
##                  
##                   2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
##   0 (no vehicles)  400       873  473  105
##   1 vehicle       1548      2972 1424  453
##   2 vehicles      1191      2184  993  565
##   3 vehicles       235       470  235  253
##   4 vehicles        66       139   73   81
##   5 vehicles        21        51   30   14
##   6 vehicles         3         8    5   10
##   7 vehicles         0         2    2    3
##   8+ vehicles        6         7    1    2
  1. Number of workers
##    
##     2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
##   1 1414      2643 1229  564
##   2 1856      3669 1813  735
##   3  160       316  156  121
##   4   37        61   24   55
##   5    3        17   14   10
##   6    0         0    0    1


Race - all categories


For households with more vehicles than workers, the difference between Black or African American and all other racial groups is larger in 2017/19 (especially compared to White only). In 2021, the MOEs overlap more with Black or African American, except for the White only individuals. In 2021 White only households decreased in this category and increased in the one vehicle per worker households.

Race - POC/Non-POC


Non-POC households reported more vehicles than workers in 2017/19 compared to POC, but in 2021, the difference is smaller with overlapping MOEs. It’s difficult to determine any other differences over time because of MOEs. The trends and differences between groups seem relatively consistent over time. The trend for one-vehicle per worker households appears to shift between time periods, but the MOEs make it difficult to determine.

Race - Asian POC/Non-Asian POC/White


In 2021, there were more Asian POC households with fewer vehicles than workers compared to Non-POC, but the difference with Non-Asian POC is difficult to determine because of MOEs. In 2017/19 there were more Non-POC with more vehicles than workers than the other racial groups, but this difference decreased in 2021 - a difference that is looks mostly because of the decrease for Non-POC since the other groups remain similar over time.

Income


Zero-vehicle households tend to make less money than households with at least one vehicle, especially in 2021. The overlapping MOEs make it difficult to determine any other changes between years, but the trends seem similar. The number of the lowest income households with fewer vehicles per worker decreased over time, seemingly because the number of households without a vehicle increased.


Education


In 2021, the number of household vehicles per workers seemed to change for individuals with less education - increased in no vehicle households, decrease in fewer vehicle than worker households, and increase in one vehicle per worker households. There doesn’t seem to be too much of a difference between years for the other educational attainment levels. There may be a difference for individuals with bachelors degrees or higher in households with more vehicles than workers (decrease in 2021).

Would it be better to create 2 groups instead of 3? This would group the first two smaller categories together.

##                            
##                             2017 2017_2019 2019 2021
##   1-High school or less      174       358  184  214
##   2-Technical or Associates  575      1142  567  478
##   3-Bachelor's or higher    2721      5206 2485  794



Regional Growth Center


In 2021, for those living in RGCs, there was an increase in the zero vehicle households and a decrease in the fewer vehicles than workers households. The trends for those living outside of RGCs were similar between years.


Commute Mode


In 2021, there was an increase in public transit use for zero-vehicle households. the zero vehicle households and a decrease in the fewer vehicles than workers households. The trends for those living outside of RGCs were similar between years.




Research: Vehicle Ownership & Location

Vehicle Ownership & RGC

Did the number of zero-vehicle households in RGCs increase in 2021?

No - based on the z-score (0.6792483), we cannot conclude that the values are different and that there was a change over time.

Did the number of fewer-vehicles-than-workers households in RGCs decrease in 2021?

Yes - based on the z-score (2.3420281), we can conclude that the values are different and that there was a change over time.

External data sources for location



Census



These results are similar to those from the Household Travel Survey.



Department of Licensing

Mapping Vehicle Registrations

This map includes census tract population data (2020). The population numbers are based on all people in the tract - not the number of workers or number of adults. To calculate vehicle registrations by workers or by adults would require additional work retrieving those numbers by tract.

END OF WORK FOR NOW——




Analysis

Transit and Household Auto Ownership

By Race

Survey Numbers



Simplified Vehicle Numbers

Because the survey provides the option for people to respond with the number of household vehicles up to 10, these categories have been simplified to 4 categories: 1, 2, 3+.

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